Experience More, Stress Less: How OYO’s Influencer Curated Itineraries are Making Trip Planning a Breeze”
My sister Pratibha loves to travel. she always explores new places recently she and her friends planned a trip so she searched a lot about what places to visit and where to stay and eat . she asked me to help so I searched all the hotel booking apps for book stay for her and used google to find places to visit I made a planning guide for her believe me, it took me 2 days.
When I was making the plan guide I found a lot of difficulties to find and book an itinerary and struggled to find trustworthy and reliable recommendations when planning their trip
then I thought about what if booking apps themselves have a guide that helps users to which places to visit and eat and stay
Hey, I am Rajani Devi Aspiring UX designer. Recently, I participated in a 48-hour Product design challenge organized by Anudeep Ayyagari where 200+ aspiring UX design students participated.
Each of us was assigned to groups of 10 people. And each group has been
given a product and each member has to work on a different feature of the product. Our product was OYO and each of us worked on different features of the product.
This time my mentor gave us a single-line problem statement.
he guided us on how to generate a brief by using Chat GPT
YES ✅ We used ChatGpt to generate a brief of the given problem statement
I aimed to create a feature that allows users to plan their trips using inspiration from travel influencers.
Let’s go
Introduction
About OYO
OYO is a hotel and vacation rental company that allows users to book accommodations online. Many of our users rely on recommendations and reviews from friends and other travelers when making decisions about where to stay.
Problem Statement
Introducing a new feature “Influencer curated itinerary” in OYO that provides customers with curated, relevant and up-to-date information on things to see and do, places to eat and drink, and shopping destinations, while also making the booking process easy and convenient, in order to increase Conversion rate, customer satisfaction and revenue for OYO.
Target Users
OYO’s target users are primarily individuals who are looking for a convenient and affordable accommodation option while traveling. This includes leisure travelers, business travelers, and families.
Core idea
The core idea of Influencer Curated Itineraries is to create a platform where customers can access pre-made itineraries created by influencers. These itineraries would include suggestions for things to see and do, places to eat and drink, and shopping destinations, as well as information about OYO properties in the area.
How Influencer Curated Itineraries feature in OYO benefits users
This feature allows travelers to plan their trips based on the recommendations of popular influencers. These influencers, who are often well-known travel bloggers or social media personalities, have curated lists of their favorite places to stay, eat, and visit in a particular destination.
By using this feature, travelers can benefit from the insights and recommendations of these influencers, who often have a wealth of knowledge about a destination and can provide valuable tips on the best places to go and things to do.
This can help travelers to make informed decisions about their travel plans and ensure that they have an enjoyable and memorable trip. Additionally, by following an influencer’s recommendations, travelers may discover new and unique experiences that they might not have found on their own.
Impact on business
By providing users with a curated selection of itineraries from trusted sources, we hope the following business metrics can impact
- Increase in customer satisfaction: By providing customers with curated, relevant and up-to-date information on things to see and do, places to eat and drink, and shopping destinations, customers may have a more enjoyable and satisfying experience, which could lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
- Increase in conversion rates: By reducing the time and effort customers spend on planning their trips, customers may be more likely to complete bookings, which could lead to an increase in conversion rates.
- Increase in customer retention: By providing valuable information to customers and helping them plan their trips, OYO may be able to increase customer retention and reduce the rate of customer churn.
Constraints:
One of the main challenges of the feature would be identifying the right influencers to work with. Additionally, OYO will need to ensure that the influencers are able to promote the brand in an authentic and engaging way.
Let’s begin the process
Process
Assumptions -> user flow-> wireframes -> Building UI ->usability testing
->iterated UI -> prototype
Assumptions :
- users will be interested in and influenced by recommendations from influencers, and this feature will have a positive impact on bookings and revenue for OYO.
- users will be able to view detailed information about each itinerary, including the influencer’s recommendations for hotels, activities, restaurants, and other experiences.
- users will be able to book the entire itinerary or individual components (e.g. a hotel stay) through the OYO platform.
- users will be able to leave ratings and reviews for the influencer-curated itineraries they have experienced, which will help other users to make informed decisions.
- influencers will be able to easily create and manage their own itineraries through a dedicated dashboard or interface within the OYO platform
Before going to ideate let me check another competitor’s app if others have same kind of features it will help me in the ideate stage because those competitors have validated with users
so I did competitor research so i found some insights
OYO’s direct Competitors are MakeMyTrip, clear trip.
MakeMyTrip has an option for travelers can share their stories so I took some inspiration from MakeMyTrip
i checked some other apps Nyka and Instagram considered as indirect Competitors
i found some inspirations
Inspiration
User flow
Home Screen → Itinerary List → Itinerary Details → Booking Options
Wireframes
- Adding a new section in home page which has a list of influencers’ recommendation trips
- added new screens influencers list, influencers profile, itineraries details
Building UI
A. Components
B. Solution 1.0
UI Screens
here are the detailed explanation of how i came up with the solution
a .Home page
As it is a new feature so it will be shown on the home page itself
On the home page, I added a section where users can see a list of influencer’s recent trip stories
The influencer name has shown at the top of the image
rating and review will help users to make a quick decision
How adding an influencer section helps users
The Influencers are travel bloggers or social media personalities who have curated lists of their favorite places to stay, eat, and visit in a particular destination. so that it helps users to make informed decisions about their travel plans and ensure that they have an enjoyable and memorable trip.
How it helps business
Attracts more users by seeing influencers recommend hotels OYO can attract more users to the platform by providing a unique and valuable service. so that OYO can increase the conversion rate
the Influencer Curated Itineraries feature can help to improve the user experience for travelers using the OYO platform. By providing personalized and expert recommendations, OYO can help travelers to plan their trips more efficiently and effectively, which can lead to higher levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty.
Influencer Curated Itineraries feature can also helps to generate revenue for OYO through increased bookings. By providing travelers with recommendations for places to stay, eat, and visit, OYO can potentially drive more bookings for its partner hotels, restaurants, and attractions. This can help to increase the overall profitability of the company.
b. Influencer profile screen
How it helps users
influencer profiles allow users to learn more about the influencers who have curated the itineraries on the OYO platform. This can help users to get a sense of the influencers’ travel style and interests, as well as their level of expertise on the destination.
Influencer profiles can also provide users with valuable information about the influencers’ social media accounts, which can be a good source of additional travel inspiration and recommendations. By following the influencers on social media, users can stay up-to-date with their latest travels and get ideas for their own trips.
How it helps Business
Influencer profiles can help to establish OYO as a trusted and reliable source of travel information and recommendations. By featuring profiles of well-known and respected influencers on its platform, OYO can demonstrate that it has a network of experts who are knowledgeable about a wide range of destinations and are willing to share their insights with travelers. This can help to build trust with users and encourage them to book their trips through OYO.
influencer profiles can help to increase the visibility and reach of the OYO platform. Many influencers have large and loyal followings on social media, and by featuring their profiles on the OYO platform, OYO can potentially tap into these audiences and attract new users to its platform. This can help to drive more bookings and increase the overall profitability of the company.
Increase the conversion rate
C. Influencers list
The Influencer List can help users to discover new influencers and their content, which can be especially useful for users who are looking for recommendations from a specific type of influencer
By browsing the Influencer List, users can easily find itineraries that influencers who align with their interests and preferences have created. For example, a user who is interested in budget travel might look for influencers who specialize in finding affordable options.
how Influences list helps business
- Increase user engagement: By providing users with access to a variety of influencer-curated itineraries, the Influencer List can help to increase user engagement and retention on the platform. Users may return to the OYO app more frequently to browse new itineraries and discover new influencers.
- Boost bookings and revenue: By making it easier for users to find and book influencer-curated itineraries, the Influencer List can help to increase bookings and revenue for OYO. This can be especially beneficial if the itineraries include high-value components such as hotel stays or activities.
- Attract influencer partners: By showcasing the influencers who have created itineraries on the OYO platform, the Influencer List can help to attract new influencer partners and build relationships with existing partners. This can be especially valuable if OYO is able to secure partnerships with influential and high-profile influencers.
- Enhance brand reputation: By featuring recommendations from trusted influencers on the Influencer List, OYO can enhance its brand reputation and credibility in the eyes of users. This can help to build trust and confidence in the OYO brand, which may lead to increased bookings and loyalty.
D. Itinerary details
How this screen helps users
- Planning: By providing users with detailed information about an itinerary, including a list of suggested activities, places to eat and drink, and shopping destinations, users can easily plan their trip and make the most out of their stay.
- Booking: By providing users with information about OYO properties in the area and the option to book stays and activities through the app and receive special deals and offers, users can easily book their trip and stay in OYO properties
- Relevance: By providing users with information that is relevant to their interests and needs, users can find itineraries that align with their preferences.
How this screen helps Business
- Increase in bookings: By providing customers with detailed information about the itineraries and the option to book stays and activities through the app, customers may be more likely to book stays and activities with OYO, leading to an increase in bookings.
- Increase in customer satisfaction: By providing customers with relevant, curated and up-to-date information, customers may have a more enjoyable and satisfying experience, which could lead to repeat business and positive word-of-mouth.
- Increase in conversion rates: By providing customers with all the information they need to plan their trip in one place and making the booking process easy and convenient, customers may be more likely to complete bookings, which could lead to an increase in conversion rates.
Usability Testing
Now it’s time to test whether my solution is working or not.
I have done comprehension-based usability testing, which means showing users the screens and asking them to explain their understanding of what they see.
Here is the list of insights from usability testing
- users are not able to find the influencer name — the user name is not prominent
2. users find difficult-to-read headings as it is so think
3. users cannot easily figure out our new feature on the home screen
4 users are not able to find an option for a chat with influencers
Let’s go back and iterate the UI
Home page :
- As it is a new feature so influencers’ story section will be shown in the first fold of the screen so that users can easily find the feature and added the label “new” so that users can pay attention
- “View all” button has been moved to the top so users can easily access the influencer list
- “Name of influencers” background changed in usability testing some of the users find it difficult to notice so changed the background to brand color
Itinerary’s details page
- Added hotel room charges and number of days users stayed and
2. placed rating below for better understanding
Final Prototype
Future Scope
If more time was given I would like to thoroughly explore and work on this in detail
Key Learning
- utilizing AI tools like ChatGPT saves times
- Time management
- Teamwork
Thanks for reading this case study! Feel free to drop any comments!
You can reach me at LinkedIn or rajanidevi.gonalla@gmail.com
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